Mount Vernon

We stopped by Mount Vernon over Christmas week.  It's been many, many years since we've been to Mount Vernon.   While the house itself is timeless, some things have changed!

Mount Vernon has been undergoing some desperately needed restoration work over the past couple of years. They are currently working on upgrades to the foundation.  While our visit was quite chilly, it was enjoyable!

View towards the front of the house.  I think this is the view that we all think of when we picture Mount Vernon in our heads.  You can see the construction fencing, marking the spots on the front of the house where foundational work is happening.  The largest part of the work seems to be happening in the back, towards the river.

One fascinating fact that the guides mentioned.  The house is wood.  However, when you get close to the building itself, it looks like a brick front.  The "bricks" are sand that has been painted.  The sand was thrown up onto the wood while the paint was still wet.  The purpose of this was to protect the wood.  And indeed it did.  Much of the exterior wood on the house is still original.  If you'd like to know more about the siding on the mansion, you can find it here: https://www.mountvernon.org/the-estate-gardens/the-mansion/siding

The view from the back of the house, down the Potomac River. I love the Potomac River in all her stages and phases.  This is a lovely (but very cold) view!

This key is in the front hallway of Mount Vernon.  It is the key to the Bastille.  I am certain that many of you are familiar with the role that the Marquis de Lafayette played in the American Revolution.  I don't know how many of you are familiar with what happened to him when he went back to France after the war was over.  Spoiler Alert: It wasn't good.  He ended up in prison.  Anyway, Lafayette sent the key to the Bastille to George Washington.  And here it is.  If you want to know more about Lafayette, and his role in the American Revolution, you can find it here: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/marquis-de-lafayette

One last picture.  The "family" sitting room.  When you arrived as a guest, you were placed in a sitting room according to your stature.  This room was for family.  The guide told us that the sofas in the room folded out to become beds.  If you were placed in here for a nights sleep, they considered you to be an overnight guest. You were directly by the front door, and the location was in a spot where you would constantly hear noise from the rooms around you and from people moving around to get their day started - which began as early at 4 am. 

I think the part of this tour that I appreciated the most was the attention paid to the lives and stories of the enslaved people of Mount Vernon. If you would like to find out more about the lives of the people who made this plantation work, you can find it here: https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/slavery/slavery-at-mount-vernon.

The Mount Vernon Website: https://www.mountvernon.org/

America 250 Parks Passport

 2025 marks the Semi-Semiquincentennial of the United States.  It's the 250th anniversary since the founding of our country.  I am a huge history geek, and this moment in time is just like Halloween - only better!

I am very excited, because the National Parks Service has put out a parks passport specifically for the American Revolution.  Each page in this booklet has stamps for sites specifically related to the American Revolution.  I have already begun dragging my poor husband to historic sites in and around the Mid-Atlantic region, collecting stamps and marking this moment.

Many states have scheduled programs and events specifically surrounding the 250th anniversary.  Last month, I discovered that the state of Virginia has a free 250 passport for sites in the state that relate to the American Revolution. I picked up my Virginia 250 passport, and I already have my first stamp in my book!

I have many sites yet to visit.  The one I'm most excited about is a museum that is down the street from the house where my parents lived.  I remember the old elementary school that was falling down way back in the day.  It's since been preserved and is now a museum that is in the 250 passport.  I'm looking forward to taking my husband back down there sometime this year.  We're going to go walk around the old neighborhood, honk at the swamp monster, walk through downtown, and visit the museum.  With the amount of walking I'm planning on, I don't think we're going to want to tackle this on a snowy day!

Note that these passports are just for collecting stamps.  They do not provide admission to the parks.

If you're interested in finding out more about these passports:

image: National Park Service Store

https://shop.americasnationalparks.org/products/passport-to-american-revolution-ed-1?srsltid=AfmBOoptEwrZJMzrye6UGkamr1ts-OHARAWnNgP7hzvjh3C9WT674urK

 

Virginia 250 Passport:

image: Mount Vernon

https://www.mountvernon.org/virginia-250-passport

Three Holidays and a Wedding

 Written by: Uzma Jallaludin and Marissa Stapley

Such a wonderful, sweet Romance novel. I enjoyed this book from the moment until I picked it up until I finished it.  Just in case if you were wondering how much I enjoyed the book, I did not go to bed until I finished reading the book at midnight! 

Set in 2000, Jallaludin and Stapley explore that unique moment in time when Eid (which concludes the month of fasting known as Ramadan) coincided with Hannukah and Christmas.  Maryam is headed off to her sister's wedding - in December - in Toronto- when the list of disasters slowly begins unfolding. Maryam's seat mate is Anna.  Hit by severe turbulence in the air, the two women end up bonding over their terror.  When the plane makes an emergency landing in Snow Falls, the wedding plans quickly begin to unravel, and unexpected romance fills the snowy air.

This fabulous tromp through Snow Falls is filled with happy endings, just the right amount of romance, snow, and celebrations.  I personally loved the exploration of family relationships, as well as romantic relationships.  I love how the authors used their characters to explore the nature of love and relationships with their characters, delving deep into the heart of trust and how to move on when trust is broken.

If you are looking for a romance novel with many happy endings, and no explicit scenes, this is the book for you!

My Goals/Resolutions for 2026

So, I'm putting this out here. Into the wild.  I find I keep my resolutions better if they are written down and I have to revisit them monthly and check in on them.  I sat down last week and wrote down the list of what I want to accomplish this year.  Dear God, the list is currently at 50 items.  You read that right.  FIFTY.  After a lot of thought, I've cut that number down significantly.  You don't want to read through 50 items any more than I want to hold myself accountable (and write them out) every single month for the next 12 months!

1) Lose 25 pounds.

     Doctor's orders.  I can do this.

2) Visit 1 new to me state.

3)  3 repairs/improvements to the house.

      Where do I start?  There are many choices.

4) 40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge

    It's been a while since I've done this.  You get 40 bags or boxes of stuff out of your house over the 40 days of Lent.

5) Organize old correspondence/letters

6) Big backyard garden project.

7) Finish the cross stitch project I've been working on for 3+ years.

8) Transfer Dad's slides to digital.

9) Put those images into an album.

10) Fill my America 250 Passport with lots of stamps!

11) Clear out the storage unit.

12)  Do one totally irresponsible and fun thing each month! 

13) Go see Falling Water. (Frank Lloyd Wright) 

      This is a Bucket List item. 

14) Visit 12 new to me bakeries.

 

Bride, by Ali Hazelwood

This book!  I led a book discussion on this book back in October.  I read it in August, right after having surgery.  I was still pretty high on the drugs when I read the book.  I told the attendees at our Book Club that "At the time, I felt that this book is the highest quality of literature.  Better than Jane Austen.  Better than Shakespeare"..... One of the attendees replied "It's a good book, but..."  Anyway...

I love the protagonist - Misery.  She is a take charge kind of Vampyre who will do whatever it takes to get the answers that she needs. In this story, she has become the forced bride of Lowe, an alpha werewolf, in order to secure a peace treaty between the Vampyres and the Werewolves.  Misery might not have agreed to the marriage (as if she really had a choice), but she was hoping to find clues about what happened to her best friend.  And she believes that the key lies with the werewolves.

This paranormal romance starts out fast and only gets better as it goes.  Be forewarned, this romance has some very spicy parts.  Personally, I loved the way that the romance and friendship of Misery and Lowe play out.  The driving deeper plot that plays out around the romance involves deep fakes that the Werewolves and Vampyres have engaged in to help bring about the end of each other's realms is very well written and deeply engrossing.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book.  I put the sequel to this book - MATE - on hold after finishing BRIDE.  Mate was published in October of this year.  My copy arrived on the hold shelf just yesterday, and it went to the gym with me this morning.   I'm still impressed with myself for not falling off of the elliptical machine while reading.  It's a skill!

One last thing - just look at the beautiful art work on this cover. So simple, and yet there's a layer of complexity in the overlay of Misery and Lowe. Kudos to the artist. 

Trigger Warnings for this title: graphic violence, blood (including consensual biting/drinking), explicit sexual content (with knotting), kidnapping, war themes, death (parental, off-page), poisoning, arranged marriage, and fantasy racism, plus minor mentions of gun violence, bullying, pregnancy, and emotional abuse. 

Note - this book + mocktail. The mocktail is a half and half mix of cranberry juice and sparkling cider.  The combination was good! Our group suggested that sugared cranberries would be an excellent addition!

Good Bye 2025, and Good Riddance

 I had thoughts of going back to publishing this blog about once a week this year. 

And then the year began.  It has been an ugly one.  I've had several unexpected health issues, culminating in a breast cancer diagnosis.  I was very lucky. It was caught very early. No chemo, no radiation, but I did have surgery and will have drugs for several years to come. The end result has been a very hard look at my life and what I hope to accomplish.  I've come to the conclusion that one thing I really enjoy is writing out into the great internet void.  I don't honestly know if anybody will read this, but I like putting everything out into the world. My thoughts, down somewhere and no longer swirling around in my head.

I no longer drive the mini-van.  It has long since been retired.  I drive a cross over mini SUV now.  It doesn't have the memories that the mini-van had, but it is all set for our Empty Nest adventures!  I've been debating changing the name of the blog to The (almost) Retired Mini Van Mom.  Or maybe The Mini Van Retired.  Or "I Finally Retired the Mini Van" Or Empty Nester Mom?  Who knows?

Our kids have all grown  up and moved out.  2 of them still live in the Mid-Atlantic.  One lives in the Mid-West.  All of them are happy, and all of them are employed in their fields.

Who knows where this wild and wonderful world will take us next? 

I hope you'll join me as we navigate through the unknown.

Spring 2025

It's been a while since I've posted.  I spent a few days in the hospital in January with the flu.  It hit me very, very hard. To add insult to injury, I had the flu shot in October. Unfortunately, the vaccine for this year's flu wasn't the flu that ended up running amok.

It's been a long 8 weeks since my time in the hospital, but I finally feel like I'm back up to 90% of my normal - and just in time for spring!

This year, I've decided that I'm going to attempt to grow a few veggies up close to the house and hope that the deer stay away from the "all you can eat salad bar" since it will be closer to the house.

I ordered two large, raised planters to put in the screened in porch. Now that the weather is finally warming up, I have plans to get them assembled this week. These are going to be my salad tables!  I'm planning on planting peas (one of my favorites), lettuce, some radishes, and spinach.  I have dreams of walking outside this spring and being able to pluck some leaves for a tasty salad every day!  Honestly, if I can save a little bit of money by not buying a bag of salad from the store every couple of days, I consider that a major win!

The forsythia has started to bloom!

The daffodils my mother in law planted 50 years ago when they moved into our house are starting to bloom.  I love seeing their joyous faces poke up out of the ground!  They remind me of her - so quiet and unassuming, but with a heart full of joy.

All images (c) Library Nut, 2025.